THE VW POLO TOPS THE WRC POPULARITY CHARTS

People will often tell you that things were better back then, although renowned Australian racer Frank Gardner would often be heard telling people that looking back “only gives you a pain in the neck”.

So, to a degree, the top dog in Motorsport News’ poll to find our readers’ favourite rally car has unearthed something of a shock. Sure, the Volkswagen Polo WRC was a serial winner at the highest level, but its character was hidden under a very Germanic exterior.

Many recall the halcyon days of Group B rallying, the mid 1980s madness that put lives in peril. The cars barely resembled the road-going versions they were meant to portray, and the engineering was mind-boggling.

While it was perhaps rallying’s most spectacular era, one of the astounding things in our survey is that only one